But the golden oriole, spotted near the Island Hill reserve on Strangford Lough, has proved stubbornly elusive since it was photographed by Stefan Greif last week.

Golden orioles have only been recorded in the north of Ireland on 12 occasions, most of them in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Instead, birdwatchers who gave up the search and travelled down the coast to Castle Espie were rewarded with a glimpse of a young spoonbill on the nearby estuary.

However, events took a tragic turn yesterday.

Grounds manager Kerry Mackie said: "We found it deceased on the mudflats. There were fox paw prints leading up to the body and its head has gone. It's a very sad end to something that has given a lot of pleasure to a lot of people in the last 10 days."